Jess and Rory's Infinite Playlist
by Zoe Saugin
Summary: A series of slightly connected oneshots inspired by great, but largely unappreciated, songs, chronicling Jess and Rory's life together. Literati. Now up: Our Song by Taylor Swift...Jess proposes over a pot of food...
1. Call n' Return Say That You're Into Me

Inspired by the song "Call 'n' Return (Say That You're Into Me)" by hellogoodbye. Lyrics can be found at http:// www. lyrics/ hellogoodbye/ callnreturnsaythayourintome.html (without the spaces).

Call 'n' Return (Say That You're Into Me)

She wanted to bang her head against something hard. Repeatedly.

She stared at the paper, with two words written neatly across the top. She had written those words many times since she started the letter, used up many pieces of paper.

_Dear Jess_

She chewed her pencil, staring at the words, trying to find a witty and Rory-like way to say what she needed to say.

She was coming up blank.

She stared at the words for a few more minutes, agonizing over what she had said, and what needed to be said.

She groaned and banged her head on the desk. She stared at the pile of envelopes from Dean, and groaned again. She put all the starts of her letters into a single envelope, addressed to Jess, and placed it on the table. She stared at it for another couple of minutes, then took another piece of paper and, after writing a few sparse words on it, stuffed it in the envelope as well.

She sealed the envelope and grabbed her coat, heading for the post office.

----------------------------

He smirked at the blonde behind the counter while he was filling up the coffee pot. She smiled back at him.

"Jess, you've got mail." Luke announced. His heart jumped in his chest, hoping, against his better judgment, that it was from _her_.

"Why thanks, Uncle Luke." he smirked sarcastically. Luke rolled his eyes and handed him an envelope. He saw the name on the return address. "I'm taking my ten." he yelled.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Luke yelled from the back.

Without sparing a glance for the blonde trying to catch his attention, Jess pulled back the curtain and took the stairs to the apartment two at a time. He flung himself down on his bed, ripping open the envelope. It was filled with paper, the first and foremost being a simple note.

_Jess—_

_By the time you get this, I'll probably be back in Star's Hollow, but I can't say this stuff to your face, so maybe this collection of unfinished letters can explain better._

_I'm sorry I waited so long to write. I just couldn't get the words to come out._

He smirked at the thought of a Gilmore Girl not having the words to say something.

_Also, I'm breaking up with Dean. It's not fair to him to be with me, since I'm in love with someone else. Not that that's a hint, or anything._

He smiled at the piece of paper, one of the real smiles that only comes to his face when he's thinking about her.

_Actually it was._

_And if I'm wasting ink here, then I guess I was wrong about some things. Which really puts things into perspective for me, 'cause if I'm wrong about this, there is so, SO much I might be wrong about. But I can understand if you don't feel the same way about me._

_Actually I can't._

_But, I digress._

_Love,_

_Lorelai Leigh Gilmore_

_aka Rory_

He folded that page, almost reverently, and placed it on the bed next to him. He ruffled through the separate pages, some never getting past the _Dear Jess_ stage. He found the one with the most writing on it (still not very much) and read that one first.

_Dear Jess—_

_I want you to know that I don't blame you. I never blamed you. I couldn't do that. Because, then I would have to blame myself too. For going to New York to visit you. For kissing you at Sookie's wedding. For falling in love with you. And I don't want to blame myself for those things, because I'm glad they happened._

_Ugh, I sound so cheesy, but today, Paris had a date. Remember the Bukowski-phobic girl? SHE had a date, and she asked how someone knew they were in love. And I started describing characteristics of who she probably thought was Dean. But later, I realized it wasn't him. It was you._

_You probably forgot me, but I didn't forget you. I couldn't forget you. And I kept wishing you were there and oh my God I'm going to stop writing before I make myself puke._

There was no signature.

He looked through the others, all of which were variations of that long one. He finished, and realized that his ten minutes were up, and headed back down. He was stopped short by the sight of her, sitting by herself, on the same stool the blonde had occupied before, talking to Luke. Her head was turned away from him, and she laughed at something Luke said. Luke gave her a brief hug, before turning away to the kitchen. She began a sweep of the room, eyes landing on him.

He could see a river of emotions cross her face, before she blushed and ducked her head, smiling like an idiot. She was a novice at hiding what she felt, and he could see right through her. He smirked, making his way behind the counter. He touched her arm, and she lifted her head as though a shot had gone through her. Brown eyes met blue and a flash of understanding passed between them. She nodded, and was gone.

"Uncle Luke, I've got to go." He heard an inaudible grumble, and, shrugging, ventured outside. He instinctively followed the path to the bridge—their bridge, he amended.

She was waiting there, sitting in the middle of the bridge, feet dangling as she bit her lip, turning a page in the book she was reading. He grinned, making no noise, and sneaked around behind her. He plucked the book from her fingers, watching as her face relaxed and her lips curved into a smile.

"Let's see what you're reading." He put on a face of mock horror. "Oh, no! Not _The Fountainhead_ again!"

She got to her feet, grabbing for the book. "Just because you don't have the mind power to fully grasp the concepts in this book doesn't mean anyone else can't, Mariano." She made more futile grabs for it. "Give it back, please!"

"Please?" He stared at her. "Did you seriously just say 'please'?"

She rolled her eyes. "Habit."

She realized just how close they were, with just inches separating them. "Huh." was all she could say before his lips came crashing down on hers.

--------------------------------

Heh. Okay, next up: "When You Were Young" by the Killers!


	2. When You Were Young

The song "When You Were Young" by the Killers inspires this one. Lyrics can be found at http:// www. azlyrics. com/ lyrics/ killers/ whenyouwereyoung. html (without the spaces).

Pre-"Let Me Here Your Balalaikas Ringing Out"

When You Were Young 

They were standing on the bridge. He was sheltering her body in his, and she could smell him. He smelled like old books, deodorant, and coffee. She breathed him in. "Rory." He breathed. "Oh, Rory—"

"Rory. _Rory_. _Ace_." A hand was shaking her awake. She blinked, brain fuzzy, trying to remember where she was. Logan sat next to her, grinning at her bed head. "Hey, sleepyhead, you gotta wake up."

She looked around her. "What time is it?"

"9:30. I would have waked you earlier, but you looked so happy." He shrugged. "You talk in your sleep, you know."

She panicked. "I do? What did I say?"

His grin turned into a full-fledge Cheshire-Cat grin. "Something about Ernest Hemmingway, some guy named Jess. I didn't really understand it."

"Oh. Are you leaving?"

"Trying to get rid of me?"

She smiled, batting her eyelashes at him. "Maybe. I'm expecting my _other_ boyfriend soon, so you have to leave."

"Very funny, Ace." He sighed, and made his way to the door. "I'll be back later."

"See ya." She waved.

She had begun to locate clothes when there was a knock on the door. Figuring it was Logan who had left something behind, she through open the door.

"What'd you forget?"

It wasn't Logan, and her breath caught in her throat. He held out a cigarette. "Got a light?"

"Well, well." She said lightly. "I never took you for a _Rent_ fan, Mariano."

He grimaced. "I blame Sam. His girlfriend watches that."

She nodded. "Ah. And Sam is…?"

"Friend from Philly."

"Okay, now that all the small talk is done with, why are you here?"

"Wanted to give you this." He held out a manuscript.

She glanced at it. "You came here to give me a book?"

He grinned, teeth flashing. "Not just _a_ book."

She glanced at it more closely. It was one she hadn't read, of that much she was certain. "_The Subsect_. By—" She stopped short, speechless, and stared at Jess. "You wrote a book!"

"Yah, it's just something a friend of mine liked and decided to publish. It's no big thing—won't be making the _Times_ Bestseller List anytime soon."

"It _is_ a big thing." She briefly wondered why she never got this passionate about things Logan did, then hurriedly dismissed it. "You actually _did_ it! No one thought you would, but you did! And then there's _me_, college-bound practically since I could _walk_, dropped out of Yale and living with my grandparents, not talking to my mother, doing community service because my boyfriend's dad caused me to steal a yacht." She paused. "That was probably the last few months of my life in one breath."

His brow furrowed. "Luke filled me in on most of that, but Rory, what's going on? Why did you drop out of Yale? And I don't know how you _survive_ without talking to Lorelai."

She looked down, cheeks burning. "It's…complicated."

"Then why don't you dumb it down for me?" he questioned angrily.

"Fine. I found out that I'm "not cut out to be a journalist" from Mitchum Huntzberger." She spat bitterly.

His eyebrows knitted together. "Rory, that's ridiculous."

"Is that why you're here? Mom decided to send someone from my past to get me back into Yale?"

His eyebrows snapped apart in anger. "I'm here because I'm setting up a Hartford branch of the publishing company, and excuse me if I thought you might care even a little that I wrote a book." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" she called after him, desperately grasping for some reason—any reason—for him to stay. She was struck with an epiphany.

"Let me come with you." He stopped at her words.

"What?"

"Can I come? Help you set up the Hartford branch, we could live together." She looked at him, eyes begging. "Please?"

He stepped closer. "Some conditions."

Relief filled her, and without thinking she said, "Anything."

He moved even closer. "First, you go back to Yale."

She grinned. "I was planning on that, anyways."

"Second: Make up with Lorelai. I don't want Luke _or_ Lorelai mad at me because they think I was keeping you from them, and I can tell that you miss her."

"You're right." she admitted.

"I usually am."

"Any more?"

"Any more what?"

"Anymore conditions?"

"Yes. You have to work to help pay for wherever we're going to live. Oh, and under no circumstances can you insult Hemmingway, or any of his books."

"Mean!"

"Yah, well, even I have my limit."

"Okay, so when can I leave?"

"When we find a place to go."

"I can call Paris." she offered.

"God help us now." he deadpanned.

She hit his arm, and he caught her hand on the recoil. There was a millisecond of pause as they looked at each other before their lips met.

Eventually, they had to pause for breath, and she smiled gently at him. "There are some things I need to take care of, but maybe I could meet you later?"

"Sure." he smiled, a full-on smile that he only smiled for her. "I wrote my phone number in the book." he gestured towards the novel in her hands. She smiled, then closed the door softly.

----------------------

When Logan came to the poolhouse, he found Rory seated at a table, perusing the real estate pages. "Hey, Ace? What are you doing? I thought we had plans."

She set the paper down. "Logan, we need to talk."

------------------------

Gah! I know, terrible and OOC.

Anyways, feel free to suggest songs. Next one will either be "Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" by Panic! At the Disco or "Tear You Apart" by She Wants Revenge.


	3. Lucky

This one is based off neither of the songs I said last chapter…I gained the inspiration for this one after watching season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (great show). Anyways, the song is "Lucky" by Bif Naked. Lyrics: http:// www. azlyrics. com/ lyrics/ bifnaked/ lucky.html (without the spaces)

Lucky

Her mouth twisted angrily. "22.8 miles. Do you remember that, Jess?"

He immediately felt bad for making her look like that. "Sweetie, of course I do."

"Really?" she snapped. "So do I. So where the hell do you get off contradicting me?"

"Babe…I'm not really following. I just said you weren't fat." He knew she was approaching explosion zone, and was going against his nature by trying to make her calm down.

She gestured at her self. "Of COURSE I'm fat, Jess. I'm pregnant. And I'm going to _be_ fat until little Lorelai Tara Gilmore-Mariano comes out." Her eyes started filling with tears. "And you won't love me anymore. I mean, I know it was an accident, 'cos I had just broken up with that guy—" saying the name was not allowed—"and we were both drunk."

"Hey, hey." He sat down next to her. "You're even more beautiful like this, with my kid in you, then you were even when we were seventeen." He grinned at her. "Besides, you may have been drunk, but I certainly wasn't."

Her voice turned tart. "Doesn't Luke need your help in the diner?"

"Doesn't your mom need help picking out wedding dresses?"

"Touché." she murmured.

"And I will always love you." He looked her straight in the eyes, strong brown meeting tearful blue. "And when this girl"—he patted her stomach—"comes out, she will have your wonderful blue eyes and will probably read Ayn Rand by the time she is nine." She smiled weakly at him. "But she will have my hair, and she will always like Hemmingway better."

"Jess?" her tone was wary and hopeful at the same time.

"Yah?" He touseled his hair. He couldn't seem to shake the old habit that had developed in his teen years.

"I wasn't…drunk."

"Okay, please tell me you're joking."

"Nope."

"So you—"

"Remember you telling me you loved me over and over? Yup."

He buried his head in his hands. "God."

"No, it was cute."

"…you're just hurting my ego now."

She flashed him a smile. "Come on. I'm hungry. I need an apple…and pixie sticks…and…oooh. Onion rings. Pretty please, diner boy, will you get me some onion rings?" she shot him the Look.

The Look was always a topic of high dispute and jealousy in the town. It seemed only the Gilmore Girls could fully pull off the Look, which had the enviable power of making diner guys near and far drop whatever they were doing to help them. Both Lorelai and Rory had complete control over Luke and Jess, and April was quickly developing the skill with the tutelage and help of the older women.

He sighed, and dragged a hand through his hair. "Luke is gonna kill me." he warned.

"Nuh uh." she replied. "He knows if he kills you, I will be very sad, and Luke hates to see me sad. Also, if I'm sad, Mom will be sad, which leads to—"

"Luke not getting any. I see."

"Yes. One of the wonders of being a Gilmore Girl. Both you and Luke are honorary Gilmore Girls, of course. Dean used to be one, too." He grimaced at the name. "But you do it so much better, honey." She reassured him. "Now, chop, chop, onion rings!"

"So demanding." He smirked, as she all but pushed him down the stairs.

"Start cooking!" she ordered.

"Offspring!" came a jovial voice, as Lorelai entered the diner. "Offspring's boyfriend! And offspring's child!" She patted Rory's belly.

"Mom!" said Rory, swatting her hand away. "Control yourself!"

"Jeez, you're bossy when you're pregnant."

"Shh." said Rory, indicating Jess. "He won't love me anymore."

Lorelai smiled at her child's antics. She had seen the same love that Luke had for her in Jess's eyes every time he looked at Rory. Plus, he was making—

"Onion rings!" she said. "I'm right, aren't I?" She looked at Rory, whose cheeks were quickly turning red.

"Y-yes." she stuttered.

Jess set the plate of onion rings in front of her, and she greedily began to dig in. He laughed softly, watching her.

"What? Oh my God, I'm eating too much!"

"No, it's not that—"

"Oh, I'm completely fat!" she wailed. "Aren't I fat?"

He rolled his eyes, knowing where this was going. "No, sweetie, you aren't fat."

----------------------------------------

It just came to me…

Remember, I said "inspired" by the song. It's not the exactly the way the song goes…It's a great song, I recommend it.

Feel free to recommend songs that remind you of Literati pairing!


	4. Our Song

Dedicated to Venni Venti. Thanks for giving me inspiration!

This one inspired by the song "Our Song" by Taylor Swift. Lyrics: http:// www. azlyrics. com/ lyrics/ taylorswift/ oursong.html (without the spaces).

* * *

Our Song

"Kitty's finally asleep." She sat on the counter with a _thump_. "She must've got it from you, 'cos I could always sleep through anything."

"She needs a better nickname than Kitty. What does that have to do with her name, anyways?" he grinned, stirring the contents of the pot in front of him.

"What would we use?" She asked, laying her head on his shoulder. "Lori sounds stupid, and Rory and Lorelai are taken…and for that other thing, you'd have to ask Mom."

"Er…I don't think I could follow Lorelai's thought process on this one."

"I think it's from when we were having a _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ marathon, and Tara and Willow got a cat named Miss Kitty Fantastico…and since Kitty's name is Lorelai Tara Gilmore-Mariano…She made the connection. Just be glad she doesn't call her Miss Kitty Fantastico…"

"Of course." He nodded sagely. He held up a spoon. "Taste this."

"Yum." She closed her eyes. "This is definitely an improvement from when we were seventeen."

"You mean, calling each other and talking quietly so Lorelai wouldn't hear from the next room…"

"And you sneaking out past Luke to come see me." She stuck her tongue out.

"Please." He said. "Luke wouldn't know what I was doing if I told him."

"And arguing about Ayn Rand versus Hemmingway…"

"Which, no competition, Hemmingway is better."

"No way! Ayn Rand has a completely better way of writing."

"Hemmingway—"

"—Is the cure for insomnia."

He grabbed his heart in mock pain. "Ouch, Rory. That hurt."

She shoved him. "Oh, go grow a pair."

He grabbed his arm in mock hurt. "Babe, will you marry me?"

She stopped in shock. He looked up at her, and found her still staring at him, biting her lip. "Really?" she whispered.

"Well, I haven't got a ring, but…yeah."

She catapulted off the counter into his arms. "Of course!" she squealed. "Oh, my God, I've gotta call Mom."

"Hopefully she doesn't kill me for taking away her mini-me."

She held the phone away from her mouth. "Don't be silly, since the whole Yale thing, Mom loves—Mom! Guess what?…Um, I think it was Al's Pancake World…Yah…Oh, Kitty's good…Nope, Jess asked me to marry him!…I know, pretty much my reaction too…Well…no, we don't have a…Yes, me and Dean did! It was Candyman…You're joking…there is no way in hell that our song is going to be by the Clash—"

"I wouldn't mind—" Jess interjected.

Rory waved him away. "No, I'm not pregnant again, as far as I know…are you?…Seriously?…Oh, thank God…Don't _do_ that!…yes, of course I'm keeping Gilmore…" she wrinkled her nose. "I know…Rory Mariano?…No way. Yah, Love you too…Call you later."

She hung up, turning to Jess. "She says she'll tell Luke."

"So…coffee?" he questioned, holding up the coffee pot.

She smiled and kissed him. "You" she said, punctuating each word with a small kiss, "are the perfect man."

He grinned. "Way to stroke my ego, babe."

"No, it was perfect. I mean, if Logan," she rolled her eyes, "if we ever got to that stage, he probably would have proposed in front of a bunch of people, and it would have been really—" She stopped, watching as his face clouded over. "Something wrong?"

"Is this the way it's gonna be now?" he questioned angrily. "Let's get the ring _Logan_ would have picked out. Let's get married in the church _Dean_ would have liked." His face twisted. "Am I going to have to constantly compete with your ex-boyfriends?"

"Jess, no, I just meant—"

"Just meant what? That I was better than him? Well, yay. But the fact that you're comparing me to him is just…"

"No, sweetie, that's not what I meant. You are all I ever wanted, and they _can't_ compete with that." She switched to a high, teasing voice. "Ooooh, Jess, you're so amazing." she saw the beginnings of a smile and knew she had won. "Ooooh, Jess, I wanna have your baby…Oh, too late." She stuck her tongue out at him. "I love _you_, Jess." She promised.

"Love you too." They heard the crying echoing through the apartment as Lorelai Tara Gilmore-Mariano, known to her family as Kitty, awoke.

They looked at each other and sighed, smiling. She kissed him quickly, before dashing away. "A parent's work is never done!" her voice echoed back to him.

He smiled, shaking his head, and returned to the pot in front of him, as he noticed it was burning.

"Oh, shit!" he cursed.

"Language!" his fiancée's voice floated back to him. "If I can hear you, so can she!"

* * *

Okay, short and sweet. This part of the dialogue:

"Is this the way it's gonna be now?" he questioned angrily. "Let's get the ring _Logan_ would have picked out. Let's get married in the church _Dean_ would have liked." His face twisted. "Am I going to have to constantly compete with your ex-boyfriends?"

Was inspired by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Something Blue."

Anyways, we're almost at the end of THIS particular series of one-shots. I'll probably start a new one, called Jess and Rory's Infinite Playlist: Part Deux or something, that will have different songs that didn't fit into the universe that this series started going with. I didn't actually mean for it to go like that (with many sort of connected one-shots in one AU) but, to quote Bruce Almighty: "That's the way the cookie crumbles."

I'm not explaining it well, but if you have questions, leave them in a review, and I will get back to you!


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